Topic: drugs

Middle schoolers are not best known for their critical thinking and ability to based decisions on predicted consequences. This makes schools with zero-tolerance drug policies a tough sell for me at this age level–especially with that zero-tolerance extends to even ‘pretend’ versions of the drug in question. More »

What do teenagers do at parties? Well, I imagine there’s a table with soda and snacks, and perhaps a few board games like Yahtzee and Monopoly. The girls probably sit on the one side of the room while they giggle about who they have crushes on, and the boys are probably on the other side of the room engaging in horseplay. If you are nodding your head in agreement, then you are the type of parent that “reality parties” were designed for. The rest of us are praying our kids don’t do the kind of stuff we did as teens, and that isn’t going on a four-game Yahtzee losing streak. More »

A family in Philadelphia found themselves temporarily without a home when their 22-year old son was busted with $40 worth of heroin, his first criminal offense. I am stunned that this is legal anywhere let alone America. More »

What this law does is criminalize addiction, and most drug addicts are sick people, and they have so much shame about their addictions that all this is going to do is cause pregnant women less likely to get help in getting clean. Being on drugs while pregnant is a horrible mistake, but I don’t think a pregnant women getting high is going to hear about a story like this and think “Oh dear, I best stop doing drugs so I don’t end up in prison too.” More »

Even if the video shows a “strung-out” Jolie it’s hard for me to be scandalized by this. I have done many stupid things in my own life and I think a lot of us look back on our pasts and cringe, and when you look at all of the incredible humanitarian work Jolie does now it just seems so icky to be dredging up something from her past and scattering it all over the media. More »

For the first time in my life, I found strength in being the heroin mom. Yes, I had been a homeless drug addict wandering the streets of San Francisco with needles hanging out of my arm. That was me. But I had survived that experience. I had learned so many important lessons that got me to this place. I had stretch marks and track marks oh my. I was going to learn how to be gentle with myself again. More »

I know parents everywhere love their children and they think that their special snowflakes are never in the wrong, even when they are allegedly whipping out a baggie full of the weed (Yes, I meant to say THE WEED) in the middle of class to bashbrag (I also made this word up, and it means to show off your weed) to all of their little friends. Tempers are running HIGH (see what I did tharrrrr?) at Santa Monica High (That was unintentional) because longtime science teacher and wrestling coach Mark Black has been placed on leave pending an investigation. More »

I would imagine that being a parent of teenagers only grows more terrifying with each passing year and season of Pretty Little Liars. The world is basically one giant electric socket for your teen to stick a fork into, and teens seem to just run around with forks in hand, ready to get shocked. That analogy sounded better in my head–maybe I stuck too many forks into too many sockets in my teen years. More »

One of the best part about cartoons from the 80′s is that a lot of the times during commercial breaks they would should these amazing public service announcements so that kids could get their learn on while rocking out to the Holograms. Thanks to you tube, you can enjoy some of the Jem ones from back in the day, which cover everything from not touching down power lines to why you shouldn’t shoplift to not stealing your parents prescription drugs. Everything a kid should know! More »

Theresa Siegler is a mom with a criminal record. Twelve years ago she was arrested and convicted of a felony drug charge – a conviction that stops her from volunteering at her child’s school. She thinks the policy needs to be reevaluated because she wants the opportunity to volunteer and be around her child. While I think people should be forgiven past transgressions, I understand why it’s just too complicated to approach each parent on a case-by-case basis. More »

As much as I love sleep I am terrible at doing it, I rarely sleep and I wake up very easily. Which is why I have such a hard time buying the story from this dad in Winter Park, Florida, who claims he slept through a banger that his 16-year-old daughter hosted at their house, with over 100 attendees. More »